


borrowed, blue. (old and new cost extra.)

by hanktalkin



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Author's Favorite, Epistolary, Flowers, Multi, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-06 14:43:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18390497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanktalkin/pseuds/hanktalkin
Summary: Wedding invitations she writes and never sends.





	1. Joel

I can plot the exact train of thought that’s going through your head right now.

It starts with:

“Hey! Wedding! Free food and enough booze that I won’t remember the next two weeks!”

and ends with:

“This is a very obvious attempt to kill me.”

Well you’re in luck amigo, because not only do I not want to kill you, Reyes doesn’t want to either! Ha, bet that name put a fire under your seat. Must have forgotten to mention he was a mutual acquaintance the last time we met.

[ _Here, the author has drawn a winking face_.]

So there you have it Joel, after years of asking and asking, he finally said yes. It’s going to be late June, but pack your snow pants anyway; Nepal doesn’t get much of a thaw. We’re looking forward to seeing you, all three of us. Well, Gabe didn’t explicitly say he wanted you here, (in fact, I believe his exact words were “you’re still bothering to keep tabs on that brat?”) but I could see the truth in his eyes. He misses you. And who else is he going to get to be his best man? Shimada? You wish!

RVSP ASAP and other letters that say get your cowboy butt over here. Gabe’s had a shit time lately and also just in general, and I know it’d thaw his black heart just the tiniest bit to get the old team together. So come. For him.

Plus, it’s not a fiesta until someone starts a Mexican standoff. I’m betting on you, amigo!

[ _Included a list of what is considered “acceptable dress” for the event. NO HATS is circled and underlined several times_.]

Cheers,  
Double Anejo On The Rocks


	2. Alejandra

[ _The following is written in Spanish_.]

Ah, I am sorry I haven’t been back to visit you in so long love, but things have been so busy with work and I couldn’t make it onto the continent, let alone down to Dorado. I hope you’ve been good while I was gone—no more omnic rescue missions! I don’t care what random boys have been filling your head with; you worry your Mama half to death.

I suppose you’re wondering why this letter is so fancy, so I won’t walk with halftones any longer. I’m getting married! Haha, I know you never thought this would happen, (I certainly didn’t), but it’s all the truth of a saint. I have two people—my family really—who have been my partners for so long that we finally decided…well! You see the invitation!

I cannot imagine having the wedding without you here. It would be a long flight, but I can arrange the money your way and set things up so your Mama can come too. After all, what is a wedding without a flower girl? We can wear matching dresses! And the flower theme is Black Velvet Petunias. Remember when we used to those buy flowers from the seller, and weave them into your hair? It will be just like that again, although this time the flowers will be coming just as far as you!

Please show this to your Mama, and have her contact me if she has any questions. I’d really love to see you again, especially since it has been ~~so difficult for me to go anywhere without being~~

[ _Several similar lines have been scratched out_.]

so difficult for me to find the time to see you. I want to introduce you to my partners too. I know within the hour you’ll have them both wrapped around your little finger. God’s blessings to you Alejandra!

Lovingly Yours,  
Olivia

[ _The i’s are dotted with small hearts_.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Black Velvet Petunia](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aeriedesign/5796407166/?ytcheck=1&new_session=1)


	3. Monsieur & Madame Guillard

I don’t envy you guys. This must not be a great way to find out your daughter is still alive.

I’ve tried to get her to come see you, or at least break the good news in absolutely any normal-person way, but she never even pretended to make the effort. Something about that you’ve finished mourning the loss of a daughter, and there’s no reason do it all over again. And you know…I kind of hated her for that? I never had a family, not a single worthwhile relative, and the thought that she could just give up in the way she did…well it’s pretty selfish thing to do right?

But I think I get it now. I’ve been by your home you know, just to check in and make sure my future in-laws are doing alright. (Oops! Spoilers! I’m marrying your daughter by the way.) But you guys seem really…happy? The nice house, the dogs, (so, so many dogs. How the hell do you keep up with all those perras?) and maybe moving on is easier for some than others. I wish I could help like that, to maybe get her to where you are. In a way, she’s still mourning Amélie too.

But _I_ didn’t fall in love with Amélie. I fell in love with Widowmaker.

It’s something that sneaks up on you. You guys look like you know that, when I see you giving each other them big goo goo eyes when you go on walks and hold hands, all that old couple stuff. Is that going to be us some day? Are we going to own dogs and bake pies and miss out kids because war is always looking for another way to take things?

I didn’t really think it all through. All I thought—when Gabe and I were pinned down in a dead shell of a building with half his face missing and shrapnel in my arm—because Talon never ever lets anything go for free—

[ _The handwriting here has turned into an only semi-legible scrawl, as though the author suddenly began writing much faster_.]

 —is that as much as it hurt, I didn’t want to fix the burns on my hands, or run, or shoot back. I only wanted to hold him, pin him down like a kite that the wind wanted for its own. And then-

She came for us. She found us, and she found them, and she killed every last one. I looked at Gabe and I said, _I’m going to marry that woman_. He told me, _if you want her to make an honest woman of you, it’s a little late for that_. Heh. Good ole’ Gabe. Never disappoints.

Marriage jokes are kind Freudian. Once you start, you don’t stop until you realize _oh shit I’ve been wondering what it’s like to spend the rest of my life with this person **what is wrong with me**_ **?** Eh, maybe that’s not so bad for people like you guys? Regular folks I mean, ones who buy eggs from the farm down the road and don’t think about the logistics of witness protection. But for me…Widow’s the best thing that ever happened to me. (Reaper too but you don’t have the power to give out blessings for him.) And we’re going to make each other happy. I know I haven’t made the best impression in the past couple paragraphs but…I want you to know that. I hope you’ll come.

[ _Included is a photo depicting three hands clasped together. The photo paper is of good quality, with a lace-cut cardstock around the frame. Two of the hands are brown, one is blue. The blue one is wearing a black, fingerless glove, with a purple flower set in the palm. There is a small silver band on the ring finger of each.]_

Sincerely,  
Olethia Casimiro


	4. Conejo

Surprise suprsie! Bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.

Sooooo…come to my wedding?

No hard feelings about the whole hacking thing, right? Everyone went home alright in the end—although I don’t appreciate that you think those new upgrades have any chance of stopping me. It’s insulting. But anyway, things turned out okay for everyone.

IN FACT. Looks like things turned out _more_ than “okay” for the two of you.

[ _Here, there is a drawing that looks to be an approximation of the purple devil emoji. The artist is not of superior skill_.]

 I totally called it btw. But you have to spill!! I want all the details when we meet up in person. Which will of course happen because you are absolutely coming.

…

Pleeaaassee? There’s no one here that’s even close to keeping up with a relevant tech conversation. (Which is surprising for a temple full of omnics. Seriously, does getting spiritually enlightened sap you of any knowledge beyond what candles go on which floor mats?) Anyway, at least they’re good at decorating. The ceremony is going to short and sweet, but it’s not exactly what you’d expect from something you’d call a “wedding.”

So pack your bags, swing out East, get ready to party. While you’re at it, grab Zaryanova too. I deserve some bridesmaids after all! Plus, I need someone else to grill just in case you won’t give me the fresh deets.

XOXO  
You Know Who

[ _The words **Sent from my iPhone** are present at the bottom of the page, despite this being a written letter_.]


	5. Jack Morrison

Consider this a belated invitation, since the wedding we’re talking about here already came and went like yesterdays leftovers. Weird ask then I guess, but I figured since you were the best man at Gabe’s first wedding, you at least deserved an invite to the second.

 This is definitely the hardest one to write, so far. I don’t know you and you don’t know me, and all we really have in common is Gabe and the fact that you worked the people who left him like that. So…screw you I guess? I dunno. Doesn’t really have the heart in it. It’s a lot easier to hate the Iris, or Lumerico, or any of the other useless governments that stood by and did nothing while Crisis burned the world around me. Gabe kind of has that, hates Overwatch to death and back, but he takes it a bit more…personal than I ever could. Hating some big faceless corporation leaves a lot of wiggle room. Doesn’t require some hellish drive to hunt down and kill everyone who wronged me. (Oh, you might want to watch out for that btw.)

 But I can’t really hate you, despite how you’ve screwed Gabe over. At this point, I’ve given up on regretting, given up on thinking how things could have been different. If I’d just been a little smarter/more committed/more trusting, life could have gone so differently, flapping like particularly aggravating butterfly. But even if I could change those things, I don’t know if I would. Maybe I wouldn’t be where I am now, here on this godforsaken mountain, married to a couple of murders.

 The wedding was…weird to say the least. Maybe you could chalk it up to three Catholics getting married in a Buddhist temple (can I say that? It’s not really Buddhist right, just Buddhist adjacent?) but the Shambali have their own ceremony for uniting two (read: three) souls into one. Apparently it’s more used for a “brotherhood” sort of union, but we made some adjustments.

 Zenyatta officiated, with Telatta and Sashimatta performing as our “spiritual witnesses.” By processes of elimination, Sashimatta was my maid of honor. (She also caught the bouquet, lucky girl.) The hall was like I’d never seen it before, all dolled up with these petunias that we got shipped over. Amélie wore these gloves—these beautiful,  _beautiful_  gloves that belonged to her grandmother. I have no idea how she got them back, but that spider’s full of miracles. Gabe and I matched, or at least, we were two sides of the same coin. Old and new, him in this loose jacket with a long scarf, and me with in the same sort with a sash over the right shoulder. Amélie’s, of course, down on her left side and wrapping around her waist.

 (Never let it be said I lack subtlety.)

 So that’s how we did it. One big happy family; no tears, no fistfights, no staring over the heads and realize you’re looking for a missing flower girl. Just happily ever after until Talon finds us and kills us all.

 But hey, dying tomorrow has always been a risk. And we’re better together, better than we ever were apart. You played a part in that, another domino that sets all of time in motion. So thanks. Thanks for keeping Gabe safe long enough for me to meet him. Thanks for at least trying to save the world.

Thanks for saving Ali. Not enough words to convey that one. You’re the kind of person I wish had been there for me when I was a little girl. But I have some loyalty now (as unbelievable as that may sound, hah) and if we ever meet, I think I’m morally obligated to shoot you. So, hope that doesn’t happen. Stay smart, 76.

 Sombra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [East Asian Wedding Outfits](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/3f/99/d8/3f99d8500e003bbc3d647226486dbed6.jpg)


End file.
